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2010-06-06 (am) 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 50 Reasons Part 4
I’ve been thinking a lot about reconciliation lately.
Not simply because of this sermon series, but because of relationships I see around me.
I know that there are strained relationships in my neighbourhood.
Heck, even the Olympic gold medallist figure skaters are getting divorced!
There are, of course, all kinds of celebrity break-ups.
But closer to home there are strained relationships between husbands and wives, between siblings, between parents and children.
It is everywhere; it is in every family.
It affects everyone.
Everyone here probably knows of people needing reconciliation, and quite possibly, everyone here this morning needs to be reconciled with someone somewhere.
And for anyone who is in need of reconciliation, whichever side you’re on, you know that it doesn’t come easy.
What is reconciliation?
The act of reconciling.
What has to happen?
Well, when relationships become strained, the natural reaction is to build defences and put of offensives.
We put up walls that protect us, and we fire off salvoes, pre-emptive strikes to protect ourselves.
With reconciliation, the weapons are laid down, and the defences have to be removed.
It is costly.
So, on three different Sundays we’ve been looking at the cost of reconciliation, what it cost God to reconcile sinful humanity to himself.
John Piper’s book, “The Passion of Jesus Christ, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die” has been our guide, as we’ve looked at the broader point of reconciliation described in our passage.
Our first point this morning is, Jesus came to give us a clear conscience.
*1.
**To Give Us a Clear Conscience*
* *
Consider Adam and Eve, in the Garden, they’ve just conversed with the devil.
Forbidden Fruit juice is still sloshing in their mouths.
They look at each other and realise everything has changed.
They hear God in the garden.
Their first inclination is to run and hide.
Immediately, there’s a separation between them and God.
There’s a separation between each other.
They now know shame.
They can no longer look at each other in innocence.
“Eve thinks to her self—wow, Adam’s really letting himself go.”
Adam’s thinking, “I wonder what other women look like.”
The curse of sin, death, could have come immediately, but God in his grace allowed Adam and Eve to live, to continue to fulfil the mandate he gave them, to fill the earth and subdue it.
But the consequences of their sin also brought curses upon themselves.
I’ve already mentioned their fear of God, and the beginnings of their separation from Him to the point that we have people baldly proclaiming there is no God.
Oh, how I wish they’d see the light!
But there were huge implications for human relationships: Eve will desire her husband, and he will rule over her, it says in Genesis 3:16.
The start of the mother’s relationship with her child would be marked by great pain.
All this shows that the wages of sin, brought about difficulties in relationships.
Hence the need for a reconciler, the need for Jesus Christ.
But what was it that sent Adam and Eve hiding in the garden?
Their conscience.
They knew they’d sinned.
They didn’t need God to tell them.
They knew it in their hearts!
And we know it too, don’t we?
We know when we’ve done wrong.
Oh, sure, there are times when we can rationalise and justify ourselves, but deep down, we know the truth.
For knowledge of good and evil did come with the fall.
No matter the good we do, no matter the penance we try to put forth, no matter how good a day we have, no matter how much we give to charities, we cannot get rid of our conscience.
We know, deep down, we cannot appear before God.
So, we run and hide as Adam and Eve did, like King David.
How did it go for them?
God found them, right?
David says, in Psalm 139, there’s nowhere to run to.
But God sent Jesus, to be the perfect offering, the perfect gift, to clear our conscience.
How does that song go? “Were the whole realm of nature mine, would be an offering far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”
That’s what Christ, willingly, graciously, gave at the cross, for you, and for me.
So that, when we stand before God as Adam and Eve did, and will do again, we stand in confidence, not in ourselves, but in Christ, who wipes our consciences clear.
Think about that! Think about what Christ did for you, on the cross.
Stop listening to the accuser!
Stop dwelling in, and drowning yourself in self-pity about your own sin! Shut out the accuser, firm in the knowledge of Christ, who clears your conscience.
*2. **To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good For Us*
Concentrate on what we’ve received from Christ—all that is good for us, our second point.
When you think of heaven, what picture comes to mind?
If you picture heaven without God, then you’re not really thinking of what the best gift of all is.
Consider what Adam and Eve had in the garden.
They walked with God.
They had perfect fellowship with him.
They could ask him anything they wanted.
Hey, Father, why do the seeds grow they way they do?
How do they know which way is up?
Consider yourself being in a perfect relationship with God.
All sins gone, blocked out, forgotten, moved as far as the east is from the west.
Being able to approach the most holy being, and talk to him.
Imagine receiving from him the greatest gift of all, himself.
And what does it mean to receive God? It means that we already possess that which will make us most happy, right now.
God doesn’t promise to give us everything we want.
God promises to give us all that is good for us.
Troubles?
They are good for us.
Hardship, excellent for us, just what the Father ordered.
Did you know that all Jesus’ disciples were martyred—John was exiled to the island of Patmos and likely died of old age—though in exile?
Did you?
They all lost their lives on account of their faith in Jesus.
They willingly went to their death, they suffered and counted themselves as blessed because they suffered, for they saw it is filling up the afflictions of Christ.
They didn’t care about their bodies in this life!
They were looking forward to eternal life with Christ.
So they lived for the sole purpose of telling the good news, even if it cost them their lives!
God promises to give us what we need, all the good, so that we can stop sweating the small stuff, and focus on the big stuff, telling others about Jesus who died to reconcile them to himself.
God knows the number of hairs on your head!
Do you really think he can’t get you what you need to provide for yourself, for your family?
Do you think he won’t teach you how to manage your money so that you can be financially responsible?
God will, and God does, but we so often turn away from God’s plan.
Why?
Because we think our way is better, or because we think God’s way is too hard.
God’s way is the best way, and he’s given us the ability to do it, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Okay, that doesn’t mean I’ll run a 4 minute mile.
But it does mean that I can live a holier life than I’m living now.
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